This is Darius Arya, Executive Director of The American Institute for Roman Culture, asking for your support to save the Tomb of the Gladiator here in Rome.

Our initiative was featured on CNN in a piece that includes an interview where I discuss heritage site management challenges click here to see the video.

AIRC has launched an online petition and our goal is to reach 5,000 signatures. There is no cost involved and all it takes is a minute and no registration required. Will you help us?

The American Institute for Roman Culture is fulfilling its mission more than ever by addressing the lamentable realities facing tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Our decision to focus more on conservation and sustainability is born from several related threats which we list on our site. One example you may recall is AIRC's successful iPetition in conjunction with Prof. Bernard Frischer (UVA Classics) to protect Hadrian's Villa, when a garbage dump was planned next to the site. This is a new call to preserve another very important site. Your support will help bring necessary attention to the need for completion of the study and excavation of the "gladiator tomb," as well as new consideration of the site and its sustainability.

Without your support, the site is scheduled to be backfilled sometime in the near future due to lack of funds required to maintain the site in its currently excavated state.

We thank you sincerely for your support of this important cause that is gaining worldwide attention as a result of our grassroots movement, including press mentions in The Observer, The Daily Mail, The Times, and Italian coverage in a series of articles in La Repubblica, including an editorial by Corrado Augias. As support builds, we expect more press from worldwide outlets in the coming days.

Please don't hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or require any further information.